most valuable steel design textbook

huangyhg

most valuable steel design textbook
i'm asking you to direct me to which you consider as being the most valuable structural steel design textbook. i've read many reviews, but up to now i wasn't able to arrive to a comfortable decision. please advise regarding this matter.
best regards.
i will offer my opinion:
steel structures - design and behavior, by salmon and johnson.  this book provides excellent theoretical and practical information for the design of steel structures.
design of welded structures, by omer blodgett.  this book is a great reference for steel design.  it focuses on many practical design situations.  on a footnote, it can be purchased for around $20 u.s. from lincoln arc welding.
given the low price of the second book listed above, i recommend one to purchase both of these books as an excellent resource for steel design.
concur with jec67's recommendation of blodgett's "design of welded structures". i have my uncle's 1966 copy - it is well written and comprehensive. here is a link:
i also concur with the above references.  i used salmon and johnson's text in school and continue to use to this day.
i also have three others that i find valuable.
design of steel structures by gaylord and gaylord
and
handbook of structural steel connection design and details by tamboli
and finally,
structural steel designer's handbook by merritt and brockenbrough.
regards,
qshake
eng-tips forums:real solutions for real problems really quick.
ditto salmon and johnson and omar blodgett.
blodgett has some really nice simple approx. solutions.
how can you not include mcguire's tome?  can't re  
without a doubt the best steel desighn book is steel structures - design and behavior by salmon and johnson.  it was my textbook (2nd edition......still teaching asd way back then) in school about 20 years ago.  to this day i refer to it. the amount of information in the book is undescipable.  just when you think you can't find that info anywhere, look in this book and you'll find it.  
my other favorites are 2)structural engineers handbook by gaylord and gaylord, 3)structural steel designer's handbook by brockenbrough and merritt, 4) design of welded structures by blodgett, 5) handbook of structural steel connection design and details by tamboli, and 6) this is an oldie but definitely a goody to have in your library, if you can find it - structural engineers handbook by milo ketchum
i agree with everyone else on "steel structures - design and behavior" by salmon and johnson.  i had chuck salmon as an advisor and r/c teacher.  he is a real first class gentleman and a great teacher.  i also lucked out because the class ahead of me got his book in mimographed sheets, before it was published as a book!
as everyone has noted above, don't plan to rely on just one reference book, as good as it may be.  it is a real help, especially for the unusual problems, to have a couple of points of view.
i also agree on salmon & johnson, and blodgett.  
jheidt2543:  i, too, had chuck salmon as an advisor in the early 1970's @ uw-madison.  i also had john johnson as my beginning steel structures teacher.  i concur with your assessment of chuck - nice man.  i had some issues with mr. johnson, but not related to his teaching ability.
on wisconsin!
salmon & johnson and blodgett for sure ... main stay
might also suggest 'guide to stability design criteria for metal structures', structural stability research council, editor t.v. galambos, john wiley & sons publishers.  i'm stuck at the 4th edition because i'm tired,... but an excellent source of background theory, odd ball stuff ( they boon of my practice), and full of vital references.  my 2, you know it just dawned on me there is no cents symbol on a computer keyboard, its probably a similiar kind of thing to my 4th ed. of ssrc guide ... ah well its friday.